Very Painful
by ionica01
Summary: Fate seemed to enjoy poking fun at Manami. That, or it made experiments on her resistance. Whatever the case, it allowed her to at least have Karma by her side, and that helps her relax a great deal. In which Manami contemplates how the color red can have different meanings and how it came to change for her.


Manami groaned as she slowly laid down on the sofa in the living room, as if in a slow motion movie, gently placing a hand over her stomach and drawing calming circles on her tummy, hoping in vain it would help to ease the pain.

She had had a painful day- as if the bloodbath that awaited her in the bathroom that morning wasn't enough, she had to be up on her feet the whole day, preparing experiments and checking her team. All the while, she had felt a million of tiny blood cells rushing to get out of her, taking revenge on the fact that she refused to have a child before getting married.

Because fate seemed to find toying with her funny and given that communication was her weakest asset, her cramps and her impossible pain had to make matters even worse, to the point where she stuttered in front of her team! What kind of leader stumbles up in their own words? And that after she had tried her best to make a good impression and keep her social anxiety to a minimum when in the team!

And as if that wasn't enough, Manami barely missed the subway on the way home, after having ran quicker than during physical education classes with Korosensei. At least she wasn't wearing heels, she tried calming herself down as she waited for the next cramped underground train, on which she got only to find no empty seat. For the rest of the ride, she was thrown between people like a ping-pong ball, suppressing the urge to bend over in pain and cringe!

It had been a terrible day for sure, and painkillers were wasted in vain on her stubborn period. The oy remedy she knew was a fresh, hand-blend cup of tea, but her cramps barely allowed her to shift into a more comfortable position, let alone walk all the three meters to the kitchen. Instead, she decided to close her eyes and wait for Karma to come home, praying he wouldn't be late today of all days.

At least one of her prayers that day was heard when, no more than ten agonising minutes later, she heard the entrance door open and the familiar voice announced, "I'm home!"

"Welcome home!" Manami answered, less enthusiastically than she wanted to sound, her voice muffled by an arm resting over her mouth. She heard noises in the hallway and steps louder and louder on the tatami carpets until Karma's face blocked away the light. Her cells seemed to be working slower than usual under the pressure of the monthly witch, and she needed a few moments to adjust to the new luminosity and read his worried look.

"Are you alright?" the man asked in a husky and cautious voice. His crimson hair was still styled for work and his suit was neatly put on, which told Manami her voice was worrying enough for him to come directly to her side.

"I'm fine," she managed, trying to get up with a groan: "just..."

Karma glanced at the hand placed over her stomach and examined her pained face before nodding. "That time if the month again?" He noted with an understanding smile, quickly adding, "Hang on, I'll get you some tea."

Manami watched his head quickly disappearing behind the kitchen door heading to fix her a cup if her favourite beverage and forced herself to get up by grasping the couch for support. She thanked the Gods that Karma was some kind of mind-reader and stumbled across the halfway with this thought in mind.

"You know, you can go get changed first." She followed into the kitchen, wincing at the effort, but trying her best to put more spirit into her words. The task proved difficult, her voice breaking at the end of the phrase and feeling the need to sit down.

"Nah, your health is more important," he assured her, picking up the change of tone and placing the mug with the steaming hot liquid in front of her. "I'll be back in a jiffy," he added before rushing out of the room.

Manami took her time sipping the tea, feeling the beverage flow through her throat to her stomach and calming her nerves. She closed her eyes, reviewing the food's trajectory in the digestive system: through her mouth, to her esophagus, to the stomach, where it spent between two and three hours, mixing with the other food and being pressed against the walls of the cavity before flowing into her guts and out of the body. She opened her eyes and marveled yet again at how perfect the human body was, remembering how each taste she felt was thanks to a certain enzyme.

And yet, this epitome of the creation had to be specifically adapted to cause every woman indescribable pain exactly once a month, as if they were warriors on the battlefield. She forced her eyelids closed at the memory of having to go to the bathroom soon and instead focused on reciting the periodic table, a gesture that never failed to improve her mood.

"You look a bit better." Red hair appeared yet again in her field of vision, causing the rhodopsin in her red-vision cells to decompose. Only after his remark did she realise a shy smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth, widening as he got closer and she inhaled the perfume of his cologne on his crimson sweater.

"Did the tea help?" he asked, sitting down across from her and gently taking the cup from her to taste his own work and raising his eyebrows, obviously proud of his work. It was Manami that had taught him how to boil it the right amount of time and how to perfect the taste with a tinge of cinnamon. He was a disaster at first, but picked up fast and could fix a decent enough tea now.

"Mhm," she admitted, claiming her mug back and letting the steam tickle her cheeks.

Manami stole a glance through the white steam ar the man sitting across from her, who was staring at her in return, a fond look glowing on his face. She then realised that she had been in a foul mood until he had gotten home. Karma must have had a charming presence that seemingly made her forget all of her pain and worries. She was pretty sure it wasn't the tea that worked its magic, but the feeling of having him by her side that changed her mood miraculously. Her glance transformed into a stare and she started running reasons as of why she hated her own crimson bloodbath but loved Karma's equally intense red hair through her head.

Red was often seen as an aggressive, disturbing colour, and up until she had become acquainted with Karma, she had associated it with war and crimes. After getting closer to the redhead, though, she came to give colour considered "the most aggressive for the eyes" a new meaning.

In the beginning, it was safety and friendship. With time, its field of meanings got wider as her feelings blossomed and it started to mean love. Passion. Romance. She still couldn't settle on the right word, feeling none of them fully captured the complexity of the feelings she hold for Karma.

"What happened? Does it hurt again?" Karma's worried voice drew her out of her thoughts, making her realise that her brows were knitted and her mouth was forming a cute pout.

"I was just thinking about your hair," she answered, her mouth pressed into a thin line as she continued being serious in search of a biological explanation: How could the same color induce such different feelings?

As always, Karma took her seriously with his answer, not mocking her always-in-search-of-answers attitude, "What about it?"

"Its colour. How can the red of your hair be the same as the red of blood and yet not cause me any emotional pain?" She asked, still in a trance, talking slowly as she was thinking.

"I don't know. I was born with this hair colour." He took a strand of his hair and examined it. "Don't you like red?" He asked, rolling a thread between his fingers.

"I only like the red of your hair," She answered honestly. " And your sweater." Manami's frown deepened as her eyes lingered on his top, the realisation dawning on her, "Actually, I think I only like red if _you_ wear it."

"Then isn't this a closed case?" Karma smirked, letting his hair rest and dropping his head to rest on his folded arms so that Manami could stroke it. She unconsciously started drawing circles through it, the dark shade of red calming her down and helping her get over the pain.

"Feelings ruin the perfectly ordered brain," Manami mumbled as she stroke Karma's hair, catching the mischievous glance he threw her.

"And do you hate it?" he asked in his playful tone.

"No. It adds diversion in the mundane." She felt her cheeks colour a shade of rose as she answered, still ruffling his hair in hope it would blur his vision.

"Red seems to suit you, too," Karma complemented her, not missing the details yet again and making her face flush even darker at the same time.

A twist of her stomach had to remind her that Karma's healing properties were only temporary, though, and she twitched in pain. Still, she tried joking, as to not worry him further, "Hopefully it'll also suit the bathroom." Karma snorted at her failure and got up, traversing the space to her chair only to cradle her up in his arms.

"Karma?" she questioned with a yelp of surprise, shifting to adjust her position in his arms, where he found herself before fully registering what had happened.

"You need to rest. Preferably on a bed," he explained as he carried her to their bedroom,ignoring any sign of her wanting to walk by herself. Sure she was in pain, but she could manage making it to her room if she had managed staying up all day long.

"You know I can walk, right? It's not so-" she was talking as they entered the room, but suddenly came to a halt at the sight of their bed- in the short time he had spent there, he had changed the covers to red, so her blood wouldn't leave a visible stain. She stared at it for a couple of moments before bursting into a crystalline laughter, despite the throbbing pain that came with it.

Karma stared at her in return for a few seconds before a smile crept on his face as well, and he declared proudly, "Scientists adapt to the situation, right?"

* * *

 **AN:** Hello!  
Karmanami is one of my favourite couples (if you couldn't already tell!) and I love writing them. I hope this wasn't too out of character and hopefully, you'll enjoy!  
As always, kudos and comments are warmly welcome!


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